Abstract
Australian special educators face many challenges in their professional lives, challenges that have the potential to enhance or diminish their level of morale and job satisfaction. Using the Staff Morale Questionnaire (SMQ), this study investigated the morale of forty special educators teaching in three special schools for students with intellectual disabilities in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. The SMQ has three morale factors: Cohesive Pride; Personal Challenge; and Leadership Synergy. The independent variables of age, gender and teaching experience were examined in relation to the three morale factors and the total morale score. To add a comparative framework, the results of the this study were compared with two earlier studies of morale in special education undertaken by one of the authors. The outcomes of this study suggest that morale is strong and positive in special schools, gender and age have no bearing on morale, and there has been virtually no change in morale in special education over a twenty-year period.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Special Education Perspectives |
Publication status | Published - 2001 |
Keywords
- special education
- Australia
- teacher morale
- teacher stress